Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Three Men Accused Of Robbing And Murdering Delivery Driver, Then Eating Pizza
The suspects allegedly told police they murdered Papa John's manager LaVon Drake for his pizza and some cash.
Three men in Indianapolis robbed and killed a pizza delivery driver and then took the pizza home to eat, police say.
LaVon Drake, 24, a Papa John's manager, wasn't even scheduled to work on Monday night, but he came in to help with deliveries, according to The Indianapolis Star. He made one particular delivery to a vacant house, and it was his last.
"It's devastating," Cheyenne Pryor, a co-worker, told the Star. "He was a good young man, a great employee and a great manager. I'm going to miss him so much."
The suspects are Juwuan Terry, 18, (pictured above), Jason Epeards, 18, (pictured below), and Jasean Dale, 19, (pictured at bottom). When Drake went to make the delivery to the home, an alert neighbor saw Drake and also a strange car that looked out of place, so the neighbor wrote down the plate number, according to WXIN in Indianapolis. Drake was shot with two different weapons, according to court documents.
A witness saw the three men leaving the house, carrying the pizza bag and a rifle. Police found the car at a nearby apartment complex and confronted the suspects. The men confessed to robbing and murdering Drake, police said, and taking the pizza home to eat it.
Police initially discovered Drake's body because he carried a GPS device that tracked his location. When a co-worker noticed he hadn't moved in 40 minutes, he went to check on Drake, according to the Star. The co-worker found Drake's empty car and called police, who found Drake's body at around 7:45 p.m.
Pryor said Drake was a good man who just wanted to take care of the people he loved.
"All this man did was work and go home," Pryor said. "He never hardly went out. He was too busy taking care of his family, from biological to his Papa John's family."
The three suspects were arrested on Tuesday. Terry and Epeards face murder and robbery charges and Dale only faces a murder charge.
On Wednesday night, people gathered at Drake's Papa John's location to hold a candlelight vigil in his memory.
"He had one of those hugs that would take all your worries away," Pryor said. "They didn’t just take a co-worker. Papa Johns is a close-knit family. He was like a brother, a son, to us.”
The company said it will cover the funeral expenses under its worker's compensation policy, the Star reported.
[Photos: Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department]
